Folding egg-crate.



E. P. CARPER & L. S. PATTERS0N.-

' moms EGG CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1916.

1 96,990. Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

& [.2 OA/PPER Aid. PA T75R50;

To all whom z't may -s n0e7'n: --v V Y 7 Be itlknown that we, EMMETTP. CAREER whereby the crate may be conveniently car- UNITED s'rAtrEs. PATENT onmcn,

, mmmn'rrrnrcn czmrrm AND LANE s'rnIcKLEar 'rTEasoN, orronDWIcK, vmemm;

FOLDING EGG-CRATE.

I specification ofietters Patent. te t N0 2 3, 1911 a piicstith med nprn 17, 1916. seiiai no, 91,731.

and Lines. PA'rrnRsoN, citizens of United States, residing at'Fordwick, in the 5 county of Augusta and StateiofVirginia,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Egg-Crates, of which the following is a specification, refer; ence being had to the accompanying draw- I his invention relates to an improved foldinge'gg crate and has -for its primary object .to' provide at very simply constructed metallic case structure,- the several walls of which may be. compactly folded sothat a large number of the crates may be arranged in a comparatively small spacefor convenience in shipment.

= Th'f' invention has above character embodying a bottom wall having upstanding flanges upon its marginal edges,- side and end wallshingedly mounted it on said flanges, and improved means for effecting a secure interlocking connection betweenthe ends and sidewalls tmnnnntam thesamein their erect positions.

' It is an. additional object of the invention to provide -,a.movabl'e top or cover adapted to beuslidably engaged upon the upper edges of the sidewalls, vertically; movable'bail e'yes mounted upon the end walls of the, j-crate, said top being provided with slots to receive said eyes, and a bail adapted t'obe detachably engaged at its ends'in said eyes lied and the top is held against shifting movement. v

It is. a further general object of our invenlongitudinal tion to produce a folding 'or collapsible crate of. construction, combination and arrange inent of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed and'illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which, v

Figurel'is a perspective view of a crate constructed in accordance with; the preferred embodiment of our invention; Fig. 2 is a' transverse sectional view; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal for another and moreparticularggobject to provide acrate of the the pintle rods'15.

other objects in view,

sectional view of? the crate folded; and Fig. 5 1s atransverse sectional view of the folded crate.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates the bottom of the crate which is provided upon its longitudinal edges with the upstanding flanges 5 and upon its end edges withr'the relatively narrow, upstanding flanges 7. Each of these flanges is provided upon its upper edge with spaced knuckles indicated at 8 and 9 respectively. The side \walls, 10 of the crate are provided upon their lower edges with knuckles'll adapted to bevdisposed between the knuckles 8 on the side flanges 6 of the crate bottom to receive the pintle rods 12. The end walls 13 of the crate are-also provided with knuckles 14: on

their lower edges adapted to be alined with the knuckles 9 on the end flanges 7 to receive Upon the upper edge of each of the side walls 10 an outturned bead 16' is formed, and the end edgeslof theseside walls are inwardly turned or bent, as at 17, and spaced from the inner faces of said walls. -Each end wall 13 of the crate also has its vertical positions upon the marginal flanges of the bottom. 5, an interlocking connection is ef-. fected between the ends of said side and end walls so that they are retained in, their erect positions and held against further outward movement.

- A metal strap 19 is secured to the outer face of each of the endlwalls 13 at its upper edge and is formed with spaced vertical guides 20 to receive the parallel .arms of a bail eye or loop 21 formed from a'length of wire having an jupwardly ofi'set medial portion 22.. 23 designates'the top or cover of the crate which is provided along each of its longitudinal edges with an inwardly curved guide flange 24. .These guide flanges are adapted for sliding engagemeni t upon the sidewalls 10- of the crate. In each end. of the crate top 23, a slot 25 is formed, and through said slots the ofi'sets'22 in the bail eye's are adapted to be projected.

cutturned beads 16 on the upper edges of the 26 designates the bail -which is. formedfrom a single length of Wire having,ob-

liquely disposed end portions provided upon their extremities with the outwardly projecting terminal lugs .27. These obliqueends of the bail wire are adapted to be forced inwardly and the lugs 27 engaged through the medial portions 22 of the eyes 21. Thus, the sliding top or cover of the plate will be held in its applied position against casual longitudinal movement. By means of the bail 26, the crate may be conveniently carried from place to place;

\Vithin the crate, when the same is set up, suitable pastebot-rd egg fillers, indicated at 28, of the usual construction, are adapted to be arranged in order to separate the eggs from each other and obviate possible breakage thereof. lVhen it is desired to fold or collapse the crate, the fillers 28 are first removed and folded, and arranged upon the bottom 5 of the crate. The ends 13 are then folded inwardly and downwardly and the sides of the crate then folded upon the ends 13. The flanged edges 25 of the top or cover 23 are then engaged upon the hinged knuckles 8 on the upper edges of the flanges 7, and said cover forced longitudinally over the superposed folded side walls of the crate. Thus, as seen in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the parts will be securely held. in their assembled positions by the crate top. Before the sides of the crate are folded, the bail or handle may be placed upon the crate body, thereby obviating the possible loss of the latter.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, the construction, manner of operation and several advantages of the invention will be clearly and fully understood.

\Vhile the several walls or sections of the crate are preferably constructed of sheet metal, they may be obviously constructed of wood, pasteboard, or suitable composition material, as desired. 7

The crate can also be manufactured in various sizes, and for other purposes than the packing of eggs, as will be manifest.

copies of this patent may be obtained for said side walls being each bead upon its free longitu inal edge, a, re-- It is further to be understood that while we have herein shown and described the preferred construction and arrangement of the" several features of our improved crate, the

same-is susceptible of considerable modificaj tion therein and we, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all suchlegitimate for interlocking connection with' each other to hold seid walls in their erect positions, rovided with a movable top having inwardly curved flanges on its longitudinal edges for engagement with said beads, said side-and end walls being foldable u on the bottom wall between} the marginal anges thereon, said top being provided with slots in its opposite ends, bail eyes vertically movable upon the ends of the crate and adaptedfor'engagement through the respective slots, a bail having terminal studs adapted to be engaged through said eyes, whereby the cover is held against slide mg movement, and the curved flanges on said top being adapted for sliding engagement with the hinge knuckles connecting the side walls to the bottom of the crate to retain the sides and ends of the crate in their superposed folded positions.

In testimony whereof we hereunto ailix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

EMMETT PRICE CARPER. LANE STRICKLER PATTERSON.

\Vitnesses Cams. E. BLACK, I'IARRY L. PARKER.

Washington, D C." 

